The Monmouth College football team suffered their first Midwest Conference loss of the season on Saturday with a 31-14 loss at Lake Forest. The Scots (6-2, 6-1) led 14-9 at half but ultimately lost to the Foresters (7-1, 6-1) for the second year in a row. Monmouth can force a 3-way tie for first place in the MWC by defeating Ripon (8-0, 7-0) at home next Saturday.
Monmouth punted on their first possession of the game. Lake Forest went 79 yards in six plays to score a touchdown but missed the extra point to lead 6-0. The Scots took the lead on the next drive with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. Carter Boyer (Carthage, Illinois) completed a 17-yard pass to Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) and a 6-yard pass to Jake Uryasz (Farmington, Illinois). The rest of the drive was done on the ground with Boyer, Riley Fetterer (Milan, Illinois), McKade Brooks (Astoria, Illinois) and Devin Pinkard (Wildwood, Florida) all picking up rush yards. Pinkard scored from 1-yard out and Cody Szelc (Riverview, Florida) made the extra point for a 7-6 Monmouth lead.
The teams traded punts and Monmouth led 7-6 after the first quarter. Both teams united on their first drive of the second quarter before the Foresters took a 9-7 lead on a 35-yard field goal. Boyer completed passes of 12 and 10 yards to Thornton and then hit Dylan Bone (Jacksonville, Illinois) for 12 yards down to the LF 38. A 24-yard pass to Uryasz put the ball on the five and Pinkard scored for the second time in the game. Szelc’s extra-point gave Monmouth a 14-9 lead.
After a LFC 3-and-out, the Scots took over on their own 20 with 5:04 to go in the half. Completions to Uryasz, Fetterer and Bone, plus a penalty, moved the ball into Lake Forest territory. The Scots had 2nd-and-goal from the one but fumbled and Lake Forest recovered in the end zone for a touchback, ending the half with the Scots up 14-9.
Lake Forest took the lead on their first drive of the second half. They went 85 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown but missed the 2-point conversion to lead 15-14. Later in the quarter, Lake Forest blocked a Monmouth punt for a safety to go up 17-14. They returned the Monmouth kick for a 74-yard touchdown to go on top 24-14 with 23 seconds left in the quarter.
Monmouth moved the ball to the LFC 36 but turned it over on downs. After forcing a punt, the Scots next drive ended at the LFC 11. The Foresters responded with a 9-play, 80-yard drive to take a 31-14 lead. An interception ended the next Monmouth drive and after a Foresters punt, the Scots were unable to convert on 4th-and-10 on their own 41. Lake Forest took a knee to end the game with a 31-14 win.
Boyer was 25-for-45 passing for 255 yards and an interception. Uryasz had 10 catches for 117 yards while Thornton had seven catches for 80 yards. Brooks led the Scots with 14 yards rushing. Lake Forest outgained the Scots on the ground 231-55 while Monmouth won the passing yards battle 255-114. Brant Baltes (Lisbon, Iowa) led the Scots with nine tackles, one more than Jermiah Glen-Louis Charles (Bloomington, Illinois).
Monmouth will host Ripon at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. Senior Day festivities will begin at approximately 12:40 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring a canned good for the SAAC Food Drive, a Midwest Conference competition. Monetary donations are also accepted by SAAC and all donations stay local to benefit the Jamieson Community Center.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
